Quartararo: 'Super-fast' pace, but Yamaha still missing 9km/h top speed

MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo may have finished day two of the Mandalika test fourth on the timesheets, but he looked like one of the riders to beat for consistent pace.

"I'm super happy about my pace " said the Monster Yamaha rider. "I think we are really strong. When we put our race tyre this afternoon I did a really good pace, '32.4 with a really used tyre.

"Tomorrow I will make a race simulation, or a long run let's say. I will not make the full 27 laps but between 15-20 laps. I think it will be fast, but let's see. "

Alex Rins helpfully passed on the lap time calculations made by his Suzuki team, which also listed Quartararo as best for average pace (disregarding time attacks) on Saturday.

"We have Quartararo first with '32.3, Pol '32.4, Márquez '32.5, Rins '32.6, so we are quite good," said Spaniard. "And then we have Viñales, Bastianini, Bagnaia, Oliveira, Nakagami, Mir…"

But as Quartararo knows, pace on paper does not guarantee victory.

Qualifying and the ability to overtake are also crucial factors, with the Frenchman currently suffering in both areas.

"I can go super fast with used tyres, but I'm more worried about qualifying," he confirmed. "What I'm missing is the difference in [performance] between the used tyre and new tyre. It is much less than before and I don’t understand why."

Luca Marini, one of eight Ducatis on the grid this season, added his name to the list of 2022 qualifying contenders by leading the timesheets in Mandalika.

"When you know that there will be eight Ducatis, eight of the fastest bikes ever, it will be difficult. But what can I do?" said Quartararo. "I can just do my best and see what will happen. My concern is to make the Yamaha and myself better and try to always fight for the top."

But the 'really big thing missing' from the M1 package remains top speed.

Closing the speed gap had been Quartararo's main priority after struggling to pass the Ducatis last season, but seems to have fallen on deaf ears. The winter progress made by Yamaha has been matched by its main rivals, leaving the M1's deficit unchanged at 9km/h.

"It's something really big that is missing, to be honest!" Quartararo said of the top speed issue. "But if I'm focussing too much on that, my mentality will not be the same.

"I go for the maximum. If the bike is not enough, I'm not an engineer. So all I can do is to push myself to the limit and see what I can do to really fight for a championship and for victories. That is the most important thing for me... [but] to be honest we have not made the steps I expected."

The 22-year-old also ruled out a last-minute top speed breakthrough before the engines are homologated in Qatar.

"It's what we have for the season. Maybe we can find something [by fine tuning] but it's our standard, last year we were at average 9km/h [down], today we are at 9k. So, we didn't make any steps forward.

"I think I should not think too much about this, just about my riding and try to fight for the best."

While Yamaha has continued its 'gradual' development style, Ducati and Honda have rolled out heavily-revised 2022 engines. Those 'new' engines are still being set-up to perform at their best, meaning the M1's speed deficit could yet grow.

Quartararo's team-mate Franco Morbidelli was the next best Yamaha on Saturday, in twelfth. The last day of MotoGP pre-season testing takes place at Mandalika tomorrow.